Ion implantation is a standard technique for introducing conductivity-altering impurities into a workpiece. A desired impurity material is ionized in an ion source, the ions are accelerated to form an ion beam of prescribed energy, and the ion beam is directed at the surface of the workpiece. The energetic ions in the beam penetrate into the bulk of the workpiece material and are embedded into the crystalline lattice of the workpiece material to form a region of desired conductivity.
Solar cells are one example of a workpiece. Lower production costs for high-performance solar cells or any efficiency improvement to high-performance solar cells would have a positive impact on the implementation of solar cells worldwide. This will enable the wider availability of a clean energy technology.
Silicon carbide may provide better passivation for solar cells than other materials, such as silicon oxide or nitrides. However, silicon carbide has traditionally been applied using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), which is a slow and costly process.
What is needed is a new method of forming a passivation layer on a workpiece and, more particularly, using a passivation layer for solar cells formed from a polymer.